DeMeco Ryans is highly respected. Always has been, and always will be. His reputation precedes him. Since his high school days, he's been known as a leader. One who does it by example. He walks the walk and talks the talk. Not many coaches have been able to turn successful playing careers on every level into a head coaching gig at the highest level. The ones who have are few and far in between. While he's only a handful of games into his head coaching career, he seems destined for something special. When he speaks on something, everyone should listen.

If you've watched the presser above, you noticed the first two answers: one was about toughness, the other was about the run game. Playing with toughness and running the ball effectively are calling cards of a defensive-minded coach. What I found surprising is his reference to making a guy miss in the hole and forcing some missed tackles. He complimented the offensive line for their blocking (run and pass), but seemed to call out the running backs.

The offensive line has had a ton of injuries. Either on season-ending injury reserve, temporary reserve, or out for a game or two. Giving up no sacks to the Steelers was very impressive with several backups. C.J. Stroud has had time to throw and has carved up defenses. It isn't perfect, but he's had decent protection. The run game is a different story.

They average 82.6 yards per game on 27.2 carries per game, for a paltry three yard per carry average. The three longest runs this season are 15 (Dameon Pierce), 14 (Devin Singletary), and 11 yards (a scramble by Stroud). They run the ball on 42.1% of their plays. I imagine his is not how DeMeco, or Bobby Slowik, envisioned this offense looking. But who's truly at fault?

I say it's the offensive line play and the play calling. The running backs didn't suddenly forget how to run. Pierce averaged four yards a carry last year as a rookie. Singletary has never averaged less than 4.4 a carry in his career. They're at 2.9 and 3.5, respectively, this season. I feel as though DeMeco covered for the line and put some of the onus on the backs to make guys miss. That's hard to do when blocks are being missed.

The play Jeremy Branham posted was a perfect example. It's a zone run to the right side. Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard seal off the left side of the defensive line. Jarrett Patterson, Shaq Mason, and George Fant are all supposed to move to the right in unison to set up the run for Pierce. As you can see, Mason moves to the second level and clearly misses his assignment, leading to a big loss by Pierce. Some might say Fant blew the assignment. I can see how one would think that given that the defensive end was lined up over Fant's outside shoulder. Zone plays are designed for the lineman to block an area, not a set person. Moving to the right, where the play was designed to go, he most likely had a different assignment. Bottom line: someone messed up and it wasn't Pierce.

While this is just one example, there are plenty to pick from. Can the running backs be better? Yes. Can the line block better? Yes. Should the play calling take all this into consideration? Most definitely. The fact remains that this line has injuries and is void of some talent (and healthy talent) at the moment. Asking more from your backs is a little much. I get trying to protect your line and give those guys confidence, but not at the expense of making the backs feel as if they need to step it up. Maybe it's DeMeco's way of firing those guys up and keeping them motivated.

DeMeco didn't draft Pierce. Singletary was signed to be a complimentary back. The team extended Tunsil, Howard, and Mason this offseason. See where this is going? I feel like this is a bit of preservation in their offensive line decisions, but also a way of saying they need more talent in the backfield. Regardless, I still believe in what DeMeco is doing until he gives me several reasons why I shouldn't. I can disagree with his statement and still support his overall mission. It's called duality and fans should try it sometimes.